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If I see a business premise promoting the “Living Wage” sticker I will go elsewhere . . . the bastards must be making too much money to grease to a bunch of unionists with a weirdo feminist spokesman.
Radio is on the slime to Cunliffe, trying to help his pathetic performance, and pushing his breeding for money policies.

The Watermelons were on RNZ this morning complaining that ‘Big Oil’ is corrupting the children of Taranki with propaganda about how oil is good, it’s not as if oil is central to our western standards of living or anything, I’m positive they have a cunning plan to replace it with some of that good old ‘Green renewable energy” that will make everyone’s life better, save the polar bears and stop GW.

Well played Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling yesterday. It wasn’t pretty, but it was very good test match cricket, with batsmen looking to occupy the crease for a long time, and frustrate the Indian bowlers.

McCullum has plenty of knockers, but he played a captain’s knock yesterday; here’s hoping that he gets in and continues this morning.

She reckons that frickin shit ugly ratty nasty hair and punk style pukefest hair colour looks good in the photos. Really ? I reckon it would look good on the hairdresser’s floor and that’s about it. She looks ghastly to a lot of other people. Why the young folks want to look like something I want to stick in a wheelie bin I don’t know – yukky.

Too harsh ?

Even if you’re not into tats like me – some look better than others. Her one visible in the picture looks like cheap bad taste shit.

And of course that awesome non-story gets its fifteen minutes of fame as lead on Stuffed.

She should move to Aussie. No shortage of cafe staff in the bigger cities covered in tatts and with a heap of metal shit in their face. It didn’t put me off buying a coffee, and didn’t seem to affect the quality of the brew either.

But in little ol’ conservative NZ it’s a different story. If you want to work, then you need to dress and look how the employer expects you to – it’s their customers and their money. No big secret there.

There’s a reason that Marshall, with his fame, many endorsements and TV presenter wife didn’t consider going anywhere else in New Zealand. Auckland has the pizzazz, glamour andmaturity to house him with minimal fuss in much the same way Sydney did.

That’s reason for Aucklanders to be proud rather than embarrassed. This idea that New Zealand is defined by square-jawed sheep farmers, cold beer, tractors and loyalty to the Empire may be alive in the provinces. But that is old New Zealand. Auckland represents the new face of the country: multi-cultural Auckland and its obsession with coffee, schools, celebrities and property prices is New Zealand’s window to the rest of the world.

Listening to Radio Sport yesterday, in the cricket tea break, the commentator was going about the proposed flyover or bridge over the Basin. This wanker says he’s not against the project but insists the cricket ground gets a $5 million new stand for the project to go ahead.
Wanker went on about how old the current stands are with old facilities and how a brand new (taxpayer funded) stand would fix all that.
What a prick of a place for cricket anyway, there’s feck all public parking.
So it’s a historic place, leave it as it is, yet another useless monument. There’s already a museum or two in Wellington.
Life goes on and us out-of-towners want a fast fun to the airport.

I bet that commentator gets pissed off with the bottlenecks driving north on SH1 and isn’t at all concerned with houses and businesses getting knocked down in the process to make way for the motorway.

Notice that the Greens only object to oil drilling in Aotearoa. If they focused on foreign oil drilling people would look at their lavish social policies.
Obviously the tourism industry would be a good place to start cutting back on C02.
How about a policy of only using local oil? Like the solar panel policy the Greens are just point scoring. Solar panels need a total suite eco house.

What a prick of a place for cricket anyway, there’s feck all public parking.

They weren’t thinking too much about cars when they started playing there mate. Wow – a car park big enough so everyone at a sell-out has a parking space. Yep – that sounds do-able. Cake tin should’ve had 20 000 car parking spaces. It’s just total rubbish.

David Cunliffe has suspicions the Government’s paying someone to keep tabs on other Party leaders, following revelations of Winston Peters visiting the Dotcom mansion.

John Key has admitted he heard about the visits from right-wing blogger Cameron Slater.

Mr Cunliffe doesn’t believe it’s as innocent as that.

“More likely it’s some form of private individual and one can only speculate of the relationship between the National Party, that blogger and whoever else is doing the work.”

David Cunliffe wants to know where the information came from in the first place – and if MPs have been tailed.

“The Prime Minister probably said it as a way of trying to establish that he wasn’t abusing the powers of the GCSB and the SIS…and if it wasn’t the public agencies essentially undertaking surveillance on Members of Parliament, who did it? And who paid for it?”

At least Cunliffe seems to have discounted the absurd GCSB > John Key > Whale Oil line of attack.

But suggesting the Prime Minister pays for MPs to be tailed by private investigators is just about as absurd.

@ LRC – yeah; the plus size model is the one with PURPLE hair and tatts. The one who is complaining has BLUE hair and tatts. Sadly, they are far from unique.

Last summer, we saw a middle-aged woman in Christchurch who I should have photographed when my good lady wife commented that she was a great advertisement for teenaged girls to look at before they inked themselves! Actions have consequences, and in this instance, the consequences were not good.

Cunliffe is clearly panicked by the polls showing that he is making the same impact as Goff and Shearer. He’s getting desperate, but an adviser should really tell him that this is going to backfire. I don’t think many NZ’ers are going to be happy with any potential government having secret meetings with a foreign criminal.

We are told by the media that the untimely deaths of these young men and men in their prime are either suicides or tragic accidents. We are told what to believe by the captured and controlled media, regardless of how unusual or unlikely the circumstances, or how implausible the explanation. Such are the hallmarks of high level criminality and the involvement of a certain U.S. intelligence agency intent on keeping the lid on money laundering on a global scale.

Obviously, it is important that this topic is approached with the utmost respect for the families of those who died, that they be allowed to grieve for the loss of their loved ones in private. However, it is extremely important that the truth about what is happening in the global financial arena is not kept from us, as we will also be victims of a different nature.

The missing and the dead: a timeline

The following is provided as a chronological list of those who have gone missing or been found dead under mysterious circumstances. It is important to note that this list consists of names of the most recent incidents. There are more that extend back through 2012 and beyond.

January 11, 2014

MISSING: David Bird, 55, long-time reporter for the Wall Street Journal working at the Dow Jones news room, went for a walk on Saturday, January 11, 2014 near his New Jersey home and disappeared without a trace. Mr. Bird was a reporter of the oil and commodity markets which happened to be under investigation by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for price manipulation.

DECEASED: William Broeksmit, 58, former senior manager for Deutsche Bank, was found hanging in his home from an apparent suicide. It is important to note that Deutsche Bank is under investigation for reportedly hiding $12 billion in losses during the financial crisis and for potentially rigging the foreign exchange markets. The allegations are similar to the claims the institution settled in 2013 over involvement in rigging the Libor interest rates.

January 27, 2014

DECEASED: Karl Slym, 51, Managing director of Tata Motors was found dead on the fourth floor of the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok. Police said he “could” have committed suicide. He was staying on the 22nd floor with his wife, and was attending a board meeting in the Thai capital.

January 28, 2014

DECEASED: Gabriel Magee, 39, a JP Morgan employee, died after reportedly “falling” from the roof of its European headquarters in London in the Canary Wharf area. Magee was vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co’s (JPM) London headquarters.

Gabriel Magee, a Vice President at JPMorgan in London, plunged to his death from the roof of the 33-story European headquarters of JPMorgan in Canary Wharf. Magee was involved in “Technical architecture oversight for planning, development, and operation of systems for fixed income securities and interest rate derivatives” based on his online Linkedin profile.

It’s important to note that JPMorgan, like Deutsche Bank, is under investigation for its potential involvement in rigging foreign exchange rates. JPMorgan is also reportedly under investigation by the same U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for its alleged involvement in rigging the physical commodities markets in the U.S. and London.

Regarding the initial reports of his death, journalist Pam Martens of Wall Street on Parade astutely exposed the controlled, scripted details of the media accounts surrounding Magee’s death in an article written on February 9, 2014. Ms. Martens writes:

“According to numerous sources close to the investigation of Gabriel Magee’s death, almost nothing thus far reported about his death has been accurate. This appears to stem from an initial poorly worded press release issued by the Metropolitan Police in London which may have been a result of bad communications between it and JPMorgan or something more deliberate on someone’s part.” [Emphasis added].
Ms. Martens also notes:

No solid evidence exists currently to suggest that the death was a suicide. In fact, there is a strong piece of evidence pointing in the opposite direction. Magee had emailed his girlfriend, Veronica, on the evening of January 27 to say that he was about to leave the office and would see her shortly. [Emphasis added].
Based on information she developed, it appears likely that Magee did not meet his fate on the morning his body was discovered, but hours earlier. Considering the possibility that Magee might now have died in the manner publicized, Ms. Martens offers speculation, and notes it as such:

If Magee became aware that incriminating emails, instant messages, or video teleconferences were not turned over in their entirety to Senate investigators or Justice Department prosecutors, that might be reason enough for his untimely death.

Looking at the death of Magee in the context of a larger conspiracy, it is difficult not to suspect foul play and media manipulation.

January 29, 2014

DECEASED: Mike Dueker, 50, who had worked for Russell Investment for five years, was found dead close to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State. Dueker was reported missing on January 29, 2014. Police stated that he “could have” jumped over a fence and fallen 15 meters to his death, and are treating the case as a suicide.

Before joining Russell Investments, Dueker was an assistant vice president and research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 1991 to 2008. There he served as an associate editor of the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics and was editor of Monetary Trends, a monthly publication of the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

In November 2013, the New York Times reported that Russell Investments was one of several investment companies that were under subpoena from New York State regulators investigating potential “pay-to-play” schemes involving New York pension funds.

February 3, 2014

DECEASED: Ryan Henry Crane, 37, was the Executive Director in JPMorgan’s Global Equities Group. Of particular relevance is that Crane oversaw all of the trade platforms and had close working ties with the now deceased Gabriel Magee of JPMorgan’s London desk. The ties between Mr. Crane and Mr. Magee are undeniable and outright troublesome. The cause of death has not yet been determined, pending the results of a toxicology report.
February 6, 2014

DECEASED: Richard Talley, 57, was the founder and CEO of American Title, a company he founded in 2001. Talley and his company were under investigation by state insurance regulators at the time of his death. He was found in the garage of his Colorado home by a family member who called authorities. Talley reportedly died from seven or eight “self-inflicted” wounds from a nail gun fired into his torso and head.

“We’ve seen here in Asia how extreme weather events can disrupt world trade,” Kerry said to an audience of Indonesian students and business leaders. “In today’s globalised economy, the entire world feels it.”

Left Right and Centre (2,300 comments) says:
February 17th, 2014 at 9:25 am
What a prick of a place for cricket anyway, there’s feck all public parking.

They weren’t thinking too much about cars when they started playing there mate. Wow – a car park big enough so everyone at a sell-out has a parking space. Yep – that sounds do-able. Cake tin should’ve had 20 000 car parking spaces. It’s just total rubbish.

There was car parking for everyone who needed one when the Basin was first played on.

There could be again if they’d just turn that bloody silly tunnel beside it into one big car park – it’s almost one now anyway

@tedbear
It will cost the power infrastructure managers (Transpower) a shit load of capital investment to cope with the dynamic demand such micro generation causes. Someone has to pay for this…. guess who?

There are much better and cost effect solutions. Pity they are not being discussed.

New rules came into force today that will see some people issued with Driver Licence Stop Orders, that would prevent them driving and could see cars seized for 28 days.

Courts Minister Chester Borrows said the measures were aimed at clawing back some of the $48 million in unpaid fines, from about 136,000 New Zealand – some of whom weren’t even trying to pay the money.

instead of sating Raglan couple Mark Dobson and Heidi Douglass, cooking oil from the local chippie fuels their Volkwagen Golf.

“When German inventor Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine way back in 1893, he invented it to run on peanut oil, not fossil fuels,” said American born Dr Douglass, a consultant clinical psychologist. “We bought a conversion kit online and my husband installed it in our diesel VW Golf in December 2012.”

Just on the basin reserve – I think it’s a lovely Cricket ground and wonderful to watch test cricket on. I must say that the flyover does seem a radical solution and could be very unsightly? Also there is a report recently from an overseas guy who talks about the urban decay under a flyover that occurs. So I wonder whether the flyover is a good option?

Totally agree about the lack of any parking at the basin reserve. If you come from out of town how do they expect people to park their cars? Or are you expected to take the bus? It doesn’t seem at all clear.

Scott, there’s also a lovely open market under the motorway in Auckland, packed every weekend with tons of parking.

Alas, Wellington chooses to have the region’s International Airport at Rongotai and to get there the region must have a proper motorway.

I visit the UK a lot, embarking at Manchester International Airport which is at the end of the M56 and I imagine most if not all worldwide International Airports are accessed similarly.
Sometimes I can almost fly faster from Wellington to Melbourne than it takes to drive from Paraparaumu to Rongotai.

One ideal solution is to have Wellington’s International Airport at Paraparaumu as the Transmission Gully and Otaki to McKays Crossing motorways are practically underway.

We understand that this post may not be universally well received, but that doesn’t matter. We also understand that there are strong feelings on both sides of the Treaty of Waitangi divide.

But we wanted to see what happened at Waitangi on and around Waitangi Day for ourselves, and we will always be glad that we did. Our pre-conceived notions, based largely upon what is reported in the media were way off the mark. Instead we found hundreds of New Zealanders of all cultures interacting and enjoying themselves and one another’s company.

South Auckland maternity care not up to scratch, according to the lefties on NewstalkZB. Maybe this overbreeding area get these rabbits to pay for a visit to the GP like everyone else. Get sick of continual bellyaching from these types, it is ongoing, and needs to be nipped in the bud, maybe mass sterilisation is not a bad idea.

A poster from Above Top Secrets, Mamatus responds to the conspiracy claims about the dead bankers,

“Wow guys keep grasping. There are over 6200 banks in the USA.
Given the numbers of bankers living in the USA is goes to reason that some will die. Suicides, murders and car crashes will show up statistically to any group that is tens of thousands large.

Want to claim a conspiracy on ATS show us the research you have done. Find some links to each other, to investigations or legal hassles etc etc.

Now if all five of these bankers knew each other, worked on the same projects/divisions you have something. If not? Five unlinked deaths in the banking community of tens of thousands is not enough to scream conspiracy.”

New Zealand Auditor-General Lyn Provost fails to disclose this rather significant ‘conflict of interest’ when I ask her to conduct an urgent inquiry into the failure of OFCANZ to do ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Centre Bill:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

On 21 November 2013

I have received your email and will consider your request.
Lyn Provost
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

21 November 2013

I want an URGENT investigation by the OAG into the failure of OFCANZ to do ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Centre Bill (not sure if it yet has Royal Assent).

This Treasury reply confirms that OFCANZ come under Police – which are a ‘Public Entity’.

18 Inquiries by Auditor-General

(1)The Auditor-General may inquire, either on request or on the Auditor-General’s own initiative, into any matter concerning a public entity’s use of its resources.

On 31 January 2014, I received this reply from New ZealandAuditor-General Lyn Provost, to my question ‘are you still a shareholder in Sky City':
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

About one hundred years ago when people spoke about the love that dare not mention its name they were referring to the homosexual people.
This morning at Progressive Enterprises when accounting staff refer to the truth that dare not mention its name it is the plunge in last week’s turnover at their Countdown stores.

Great partnership by Watling and McCullum. I used to be a hater but am a convert now, phenomenal summer and closing in on consecutive double hundreds.

If they are still there at tea we have a chance to save the game….fatigue must be setting in though. Hopefully Neesham and the bowlers are having some net sessions and Southee has been told to shelve the six and out idiocy

Colin Craig has been quiet lately but this should get him a bit of attention.

Colin Craig has launched legal action against Russel Norman over comments the Greens co-leader reportedly made at the Big Gay Out.

Lawyers for Mr Craig, who leads the Conservative Party, have written to Mr Norman asserting his alleged comments are untrue and defamatory.

Mr Norman said at the event in Auckland earlier this month: “Now the thing about Colin Craig is he thinks that a woman’s place is in the kitchen and a gay man’s place is in the closet.”

Mr Craig’s lawyers said the statement crossed the boundary of what is legal or acceptable, even in an election year.

In a letter to Mr Norman, lawyer John McKay, a partner at Chapman Tripp, alleged the statement “harms his reputation to say that he holds such sexist, derogatory and offensive views about woman and gay men”.

Mr Craig is demanding an apology and retraction which gets similar coverage as Mr Norman’s original comments, otherwise his lawyers say they will take further action under the Defamation Act.

Yep. It was tough losing the toss and tough batting in the first innings. The first five wickets in the second innings were looking embarrassing, but a lot of credibility has been restored already. If they can bat most of today it could even make a real contest out of it, 250 could be hard to chase on the final day. But holding on for another couple of sessions could be a bit too much to hope for.

I’m not giving up on Rutherford yet. Most batsmen would have struggled with some of the balls he’s gone out to. In this innings it was a perfect length ball with just enough seem to catch the edge.

The slimebag editor of Manawatu Standard is at it again, trying to discredit our PM over the Springbok Tour of 81, at the same time trying to rally support for the deviant Labour Party. This was instigated by the little creep Soper. Who cares what JK thought of the tour, it is Soper and this effen editor that infuriate me. Soper, Deaker, Clark, and Laidlaw were hand in hand in this display of left-wing disruption, with the likes of Soper never even kicking a ball in his puny gutless life. Sooner or later losers such as this editor need to be taken to task.

Colin Craig needs to get real.Politicians right, center or left put up with a lot worse.Its the baggage that come with politics and being in at the center of media and public attention. .
If he can’t put up he should get out.
Politics is not about aspirations to beautification , piety or saintliness.!
Craig could spend his time more usefully unraveling some of his conspiracy and related . thinking

I think Craig is making a fair point. Yep, it seems an over the top reaction to something that happens all the time, I can’t see it succeeding legally, but calling Norman on blatant Green hypocrisy about personal attacks could be a smart move politically.

Cynthia McKinney
Colonization of individual countries in Europe by the EU Central Banksters; Israel joining the anti-ALBA coalition in South America; Gangster Banksters in the U.S. getting away with high crimes and working with the CIA and NYPD to further instill the police state in the U.S.; and the wanton killing of a kid and the jury finds it difficult to convict the murder of murder–they’re all related. These are not single incidents to be considered serially, these should be taken as clues of what needs to be done against a common culprit if we are to experience “liberty”–especially for those of us who never have.

Treaty of Maastricht on European Union
europa.eu

EUROPA – Summaries of EU legislation – The Treaty on European Union (TEU) represents a new stage in European integration since it opens the way to political integration. It creates a European Union consisting of

This will go down in history as one of the all time great NZ innings, one of the gutsiest ever seen. It’s up there with Greatbatch 1989. If he goes on and sets up an NZ series win, or even by some miracle a win in this test, then he will go down in NZ cricket folklore. The fact that he is battling injury and pain while doing it makes it all the more amazing.

I think Craig is in for a rather busy time, what with a likely flood of gagging and defamation writs etc.Rather super sensitive sort but he has the wherewithal to try and shut others up and no doubt” the income ” for those ” less fortunate.”

New Zealand’s economy has been the subject of plenty of hype lately, but some say a reality check is coming, and it’s going to hurt.

New Zealand is “like Ireland in 2007″ and it’s only a matter of time before its currency takes a hit according to one analyst.

Stephen Jen, a partner at London-based hedge fund SLJ Macro Partners and former IMF official, said that while “the case for kiwi seems compelling,” the reality is “quite different”.

“New Zealand has severe structural weaknesses that are very similar to those of crisis-hit Southern European and Southern emerging-market economies. The Kiwi may be 20 per cent overvalued,” Jen and colleague Fatih Yilmaz wrote in a research note.

The Indians will go hard at any total we set, and they have the skills to do it, IPL batters to go crazy. Its not beyond them to chase down 400 on this flat pitch.
They are on a hiding to nothing. A drawn series is the best they can do IF they win this one.
We need to bat to almost lunch tomorro IMHO.

There is more of an argument for Papps than Guptill. Papps has been phenomenal in first class cricket in recent years. Our first class cricket is a big step down but if you want to replace the incumbent with someone knocking on the door, Papps is the best on the NZ first class scene.

But this should be seen as all the more reason to provide an attractive and stable investment climate in order to improve our abilities to compete and raise living standards.

So, to make it harder for foreign investors to invest productively in New Zealand is a damaging policy prescription – yet, this is precisely what New Zealand is doing.

Prominent New Zealand economist and businessman, Sir Roderick Deane, noted in 1970s that for years “there appeared to be a marked reluctance by successive governments to adopt a positive policy towards foreign investment’ in New Zealand”.

That changed in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, when the Lange/Douglas reforms saw New Zealand open its capital markets considerably, reduce trade protectionism, remove exchange controls and significantly increase the scope for private investment. In the process, we integrated rapidly with the rest of the world.

Zapper, Guptil I think has the goods and there are bugger all around challenging him. A couple of years older, a couple of years wiser than anyone else.

Nick, Papps has, they tell me, stopped headbutting Ocker quicks and as Zapper noted put the numbers up. He was always brave, stupidly so probably but no way can NZ afford to destroy a couple of young openers against what will still be a bloody quick, nasty Ocker bowling line-up.

The Windies don’t count in this discussion.

As for Latham, he’s struggled with the Indians batting at four – he’s not ready!

MT I agree there aren’t a lot of challengers but I don’t think Guptill is one of them either. There is nothing to suggest he will be better than the incumbents. He’s not an opener in the longer form of the game, and there’s no space for him in our middle order.

After batting for 10+ hours I would hope McCullum wouldn’t give them the faintest hope of a gettable target by way of a declaration. Close it out, take the 1-0 victory and an unbeaten tour against the world no 2 team

New Zealand the new Ireland.? Hardly as it receives zilch EU subsidies for one thing. Unlike “the severe structural weaknesses ” of Southern European countries like Greece it doesn’t offer its retirees the totally unmanageable 90% of their income.

GO COLIN CRAIG. Suing Dr Russell Norman for derogatory comments made about him at the Big Gay Out. Hit em where it hurts; Enough of the mindless sanctimonious put downs of conservative-minded people in NZ.

Making the popcorn now to watch the squirming during the forthcoming Greens apology. Will Metiria pitch in too?

John Key has just, unfortunately for you, stated that, “f every time I sued anyone who misrepresented my statements then my lawyers would also be busy.”
Wussell ,unfortunately for you , is not backing down.
And again maybe ,unfortunately for you , Colin agrees a woman’s place is not only in the kitchen and that he would allow gays to join his party. ( Fletch will have hysterics over that.)

Those distracted by some sports game may have missed Paddy Gower breaking news – Shane Taurima using TVNZ to fundraise and build support for Labour, with help from other staff. Taurima has resigned.

Cunliffe says it’s not his responsibility.

3 News can reveal state broadcaster TVNZ is being used as a campaign base by Labour Party activists.
They’ve even held a meeting in TVNZ’s Maori and Pacific Unit aimed at fundraising for Labour.
The unit’s manager, Shane Taurima, has held ambitions to become a Labour MP and his staff have been arranging Labour Party business, using TVNZ facilities like email.
Mr Taurima has resigned following the revelation.
Mr Taurima’s a Labour Party activist. He could be standing as a Labour MP this election.
Documents obtained by 3 News show the state broadcaster is being used to help Labour’s cause.
Labour’s electorate committee for the Auckland Maori seat Tamaki Makarau has been using TVNZ as a base.

bb – you’ve got me wrong on that, yes Norman looks petulant and he’s a bloddy great hypoicrite, and I’ve just had Turei trying to defend the new brand of Green personal attack politics, she failed to see her hypocrisy moaning at National criticising he.

Steve, during Helen Clark’s last election campaign there were flyers posted on notice boards all around TVNZ urging workers not to vote National, and that everything was at stake etc etc.

They weren’t taken down either, they were simply left there. The place is like National Radio, full of people like Taurima. He’s dead meat now. Labour will turn its back on him. Good job, his attack on Paula Bennett was appalling, everyone knows he’s a hard core hater.

“I stand by my views, made both in my opening speech to Parliament earlier this year and restated at the Big Gay Out on Sunday February 9.
“Colin Craig has said that gay relationships aren’t normal and that New Zealand women are promiscuous, I think those views are offensive.
“I and the Green Party are proud of our record of fighting for rights and freedoms for New Zealand women and the gay community. I think our position on these issues and Colin Craig’s are very different.
“It is clear to all that my statements were made within the context of political speeches, at the beginning of an election year.
“It is only right that politicians robustly set out their positions, and I think that if Colin Craig wants to enter the political debate he needs to accept the criticisms that are going to come his way. That is just part and parcel of robust political debate.
“Colin Craig now has a track record for making allegations of defamation if someone says something about his views that he doesn’t like. I don’t plan to back down from my statements because of a lawyer’s letter.
“New Zealanders want to hear freely from their politicians. Colin Craig appears to want all our statements run past lawyers. We are not going to engage in that style of politics.
“This election offers real choices for New Zealanders. And my message to women and gay New Zealanders is that I and the Green Party back your rights and freedoms.”

Awesome stuff by B Mac and Watling, will be interesting to see if they decide to go for the win or play it safe for a 1-0, Maybe go for a whack, Still have Southee and even Boult can whack it a bit so if we went for some quick runs and gave the quicks 3 sessions to have a go at India and see if we can get 2-0 although not having a frontline spinner is a bit of a problem, maybe Williamson would need to bowl a few more overs than he normally does. A remarkable turnaround from being 5 down and still a long way behind Indias first innings.

Rowan.
Pitch is sedate and India have 7 (?) frontline IPL hardened batsmen capable of scoring very very fast.
India could do 5+ runs an over for 75 overs.
We will play safe and play for a draw.
A small chance of drizzel around noon.

That said high humidity should make the ball hoop about for Boult and it could be all on!

Just like that joke where the guy gets the “tour” of hell by the devil, and it looks so amazing, he chooses to go there. Once he’s in and he gets the real hell, and he wants to know why it’s different, the devil tells him he got the demo model to get him hooked.

As for Colin, not a good look sending in the lawyers when all it would take is an attack back.

Pete George (21,078 comments) says:
February 17th, 2014 at 6:24 pm
Those distracted by some sports game may have missed Paddy Gower breaking news – Shane Taurima using TVNZ to fundraise and build support for Labour, with help from other staff. Taurima has resigned.

Those of us who did not put their brains in reverse while swearing undying fealty to possum head many years ago no doubt noted both, simply dismissing the politics as a non-issue while acknowledging the cricket events – nay heroics – as a major event in NZ history, memorable and to be commented on for hundreds of years hence.

Colville
A bit unrealistic to expect to be able to sustain 5+ an over for 75 overs without losing wickets. And if they do lose wickets then its very risky to ask the next batsman to be able to maintain that rate while preserving their wickets. But yes it would not be surprising to see them play it safe for 1-0, however hypothetically if we got bowled out in the morning for not to many more runs then it would still be a challenging total for India. Will be interesting and still anything can happen.

Rown.
Jimmy Neesham, our number 8, on debut to test level cricket has just scored 67 not out at a 70 (4.2 per over)strikerate.
India have 7 batsmen better than him, I think they would back themselves to do better.

Dime. A draw is a win for us. Why risk anything?

Either way I expect tomorro to be a cracker, fireworks from both sides. Yippee

That’s a good comparison Lucia Maria. But in their case the salespeople are convinced they are selling the truth bit instead they are selling their own delusions. They mean well but are in a bubble that filters out reality.

A day 5 pitch Colville and I would rate Southee and Boult to be a bit more threatening with a new ball to the indian top order than what Shama and Shami have dished up this innings, ignoring our 2 useless openers, also our tail is significantly better than Indias. Neesham has batted the equivilent of about 15 overs (67 @ 4.2 rpo strikerate), you would need pretty much this sort of contribution from every one of those 7 batsman with none of them to have a failure, a bit to much to ask? We shall see.

Still on the Cricket have Aussie really turned it around since 6 months ago when they were the laughing stock and were getting thrashed by England and India? on form yes but England were woeful on the return ashes series, SA in their own backyard? we shall see how the second test goes before making that assessment, it was a poor performance by the Saffers who generally bat and bowl significantly better than that, they are capable of a lot better than that, Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith are normally pretty average and fail more than they succeed but certainly stood up for Aussie in the first test.

Colville
Look at Indias performances out of India under Dhoni. it ain’t to flash yes they are very capable but how many of them average above 30 outside of India? not many, we have handled some of their young breed pretty well, i.e. Pujara who averages over 60 in Test Cricket, R Sharma and Vijay, Rahane had his first notable innings all tour in the first innings. Outside of Dhoni none of those batsman have the experience or the runs outside of India.

Rowan – yes SA and Aus is very interesting. Take out Johnson and it’d be a lot closer. He is the difference between the sides really.

Agree with you about Marsh, he averages just over 30 in FC cricket and has 9 FC centuries at the age of 32. He is the most enigmatic man in Australian cricket and most people seem to have been angry he got picked over Hughes/Khawaja etc and the other up and comers. Great innings in the last test though, but will be interesting if he can carry it on, probably last chance saloon at international level. Steve Smith I really rate though and hope he goes on to great things.

Johnson is in their heads that is for sure. It’s interesting to see Steyn down quite a lot in pace recently and Morkel not as hostile as he could be with the pace and bounce he can derive. Didn’t expect the Aussie batters to have it so easy to be honest.

Nickb
Yes it was a bit surprising, Johnson is as good as you let him be, sometimes he is very unthreatening and doesn’t even make the batsman have to play many of the balls, but then he can turn it around with a good spell just like that or similarly end up going for plenty, strange to think that he wouldn’t have even been in the Aussie eleven for the ashes if it wasn’t for the injuries to Pattison and Starc. Marsh can be pretty bloody awful, look at the Indian series in the 2012 summer in 5 tests he got something like 15 runs at an average of around 3! I suspect he wouldn’t have even played in the last match had Watson been fit but then he scores a ton so it will be tough to drop him if Watto is fit.
I think it was an off day from SA, They should have batted first after winning the toss, I expect they won’t play nearly as poorly twice around.

Colville
Fair enough, the game still has a lot going for it, will be an exciting last day.

Where your suggestion re Johnson and happy juice falls down is that Johnson has always had the ability to bowl at that speed. And anyway, you can take as many drugs as you like, you cannot make somebody into a fast bowler, they either have it or not.

From what I’ve read Mc Cullum is speaking about taking a conservative approach, winning the series one nil. He may however decide to set the Indians an equivalent to around 7 and over to win before declaring if the Kiwis continue to bat that long. That’s a big ask, I think the BCs would be confident of bowling them out, rattle their nerves again after 6 losses on the trot. This is like a Frazier Ali fight going into the late rounds, the difference being that the NZ bowlers are well rested and ready to go. No gripes from me whatever the decision is, Mc Cullum in particular has shown himself to be multi dimensional in his play and his captaincy – where once he might fairly have been described as a blunderbust, he is now more fittingly seen as reserved and calculating strike force hedging the risk.

From what I’ve read Mc Cullum is speaking about taking a conservative approach, winning the series one nil. He may however decide to set the Indians an equivalent to around 7 and over to win before declaring if the Kiwis continue to bat that long.

Perhaps declare after another quick 30 runs or so? With the differences between one-day and test match rules (e.g., fielding restrictions and power plays), setting them 360 runs say and about 70 overs to bowl at them (a RR of just over 5.0 per over) would still be a challenge for India. Draw still likely, but enough time for your bowlers to “get lucky”.

Yes, maybe as low as 5 per over SGA. As you say the Indians would be without the benefit of power plays and fielding restrictions. The chances are that the quick 30 approach might readily result in an opportunity to score more runs even with leaving India 70 overs. Another aspect is that to this point the Indian team may already be hopeful of a draw, rather than a victory – in which case that will be an advantage to the bowlers to further unsettle and challenge the batsmen. Looking at it from that point of view, it seems the BC’s will likely throw down the gauntlet.

Seeing the propagander promos for Campasabell Lives I thought all three 17 Feb stories might be promising.

How to put this – the actual meat of each story – the background, the facts, the whys are wherefores – doesn’t take very long to explain even in TV micro time bites. So the rest of it is the most atrocious tabloid Home & Away style filler bullshit nonsense one-sided populist spin you could hope to hear.

I know that they hand these people a script with lots of slogans that they have to pepper their appeal to poor little hard done by victim status speeches with. They’re given quick acting classes.

This fella with his taxi and Chch airport charging him more for a barrier pass or something. Through the story they kept saying 500% increase…..500% increase….. 500% increase. All the time. Then back to John who in a very calm smirking voice gently informs the camera that it was in fact 400%. But ok – 400% or 500% – does that make a huge difference ? Probably not – but it’s the whole way they did that. It’s rubbish. That’s one small thing.

So what’s going on here really is that Graeme Harris is providing alternative long-term parking for passengers using the airport a short distance away. He’s in competition with the airport to make money from passenger parking. His business is the same as one part of the airport’s business. They charge him to drop off his customers by shuttle van.

Harris charges $19 per day for 1-3 days. You park for three days and it’s $57 – holy fuck. I don’t remember hearing that point talked about.

If you crunch some numbers – it turns out that with a capacity of 620 car park spaces at Airpark – you’d need to fill roughly an extra 13 of them per day to cover the increased swipe charge. Without seeing the books of Airpark – who knows what’s ‘fair’ to his business ? When the cost of doing business goes up – it’s the same old story. You can pass the cost on to customers – wear the cost yourself – a combination of the two – change your business, adapt – or give up as it’s unworkable. 620 parking spaces at Airpark. And the programme is trying to make him out as the little fella – David up against Goliath. If at $10 per swipe it’s going to cost $120 000 in annual swipe fees – nothing about that sounds small business, does it ? 620 frickin spaces – holy hell !!

I could look at Graeme Harris and say this fella has exploited a sweet way to undercut the airport parking fees and make himself rich. The airport activity and access to it is providing his whole income. His airport access licence is a licence to print money. The airport clearly feel they want their cut of his business bypassing their provided facilities. They are in competition with each other, hello ?

“My swipe fees will be $120,000 a year”, says Mr Harris. “It’s a lot of tin to be able to fork out to keep your business going, and I don’t believe that 10 to 12 percent of your business should go in fees for the courtesy of using a barrier arm and a bit of tarseal.”

That’s one way of downplaying the core money-making activity of your business. If it’s ‘just a barrier and a bit of tar-seal’ then don’t use it. Drop the passengers as close as possible on the edge of the airport property and they can walk to the terminal. At the entry barrier. Obviously that wouldn’t work. You’re paying the cost of a business asset – access to the closest drop-off point. There’s huge value in that, the airport knows only too well and they don’t want to lose out on their revenue either. But talk to all the dickheads in TV land like the mugs that you know they are.